“She’s not like that.” Mather regretted talking as soon as the words left his lips, but Kiefer perked up—clearlyhe’d been waiting for Mather to respond. Even at night when the ale made most of them relaxed, Kiefer glowered whenever Mather looked at him.
Mather couldn’t fault him for being angry. They all wanted someone to hate.
“Well, it seems she is,” Kiefer snapped back. “Where is she now? Off to be pampered by the good-for-nothings of Primoria’s other kingdoms while we’re feasting our days away, right?” Kiefer swept into a bow. “Once-King Mather, please direct me to the feasting tables. I do so desire a plate of our queen’s generosity.”
Blood roared in Mather’s head, the remnants of his anger with William adding fuel. “Stop it.”
Kiefer laughed. “Tell me you at least got a little ofour queen’s generosityat some point.”
Trace jerked his face out of his knees, Phil shoved up from his crouch on the floor, even Eli blinked at his brother in shock. Hollis’s shoulders rose and one sweep of his body let Mather know he’d have support should he decide to tackle Kiefer.
Mather drew in deep breaths. It was just a weak outward sign of Kiefer’s inner struggle. They were all tired, all in pain, and fighting him would do nothing.
But it would feel so,sogood.
“Leave Meira alone,” he tried. “You owe her your life.”
“Meira,”Kiefer echoed. “Using her first name. She didn’t even know she was the ruler when you were with her, didshe? She thought you were the king. Mighty King Mather. She probably did anything you asked of her.”
“Quiet!”
“Admit it. It’d help knowing someone put her in her place while we were being put in ours.”
Mather didn’t remember consciously moving; all he knew was that he felt the smallest blip of relief that Kiefer had opened himself to this. Hacking at each other with practice swords only worked out so much frustration—real fighting, throwing true blows, released so much more, and as Mather’s fist smacked into Kiefer’s jaw, all his worries evaporated, if only for a moment.
Kiefer flew into the air, the force of Mather’s punch bouncing him off the barn wall and onto his stomach. Mather let him have two seconds to right himself before Mather jammed his knee into Kiefer’s neck. Not hard enough to snap anything, and he dropped an elbow down on his spine. Kiefer flattened on a wheeze, the air knocked out of him, and Mather twisted so he had the boy’s arms locked behind his back.
“Stop it!” Eli shouted. A few feeble punches danced across Mather’s shoulders before another force swept Eli out of the way. The younger boy collapsed on the floor and stayed there, staring with terrified eyes at his brother and Mather and now Hollis.
“Stay back,” Hollis snarled, and the younger boy cowered.
Hollis grabbed Kiefer’s hair and yanked his head up,twisting it so forcefully that Kiefer cried out, the first sign of pain he had dared release. Mather admired him for being able to hold on so long, but then Hollis spoke, and anger flooded Mather’s body.
“You saw those Suns attack your mother,” Hollis growled, every word dark and horrible and so full of pain that Mather worried for Kiefer’s life, even as he kept the boy’s arms bent against his spine. “You saw them do that to more than just her, I know you did. How dare you wish that on the person who saved your pathetic life?”
Kiefer moaned, straining against the boys holding him, and when he did Hollis slammed Kiefer’s head into the floor before standing. Mather jumped up, releasing Kiefer’s arms and taking four steps back to put space between himself and the prostrate boy.
Eli scrambled toward his brother but snapped back when Kiefer snarled at him. Trace and Phil looked from Kiefer to Hollis to Mather, a gleam of pride in their eyes.
Mather ran a hand down his face. The rest of the former trainees might have eventually made good soldiers—but these boys would have definitely been a success. And now, who knew when Noam would lift the order? Or would he make sure Winter stayed crippled forever?
Mather’s eyes narrowed as he took in each of the boys. There were only six of them, including himself. Already they had managed four nights of sneaking off early and showing up hungover each morning—they could easilybe missed in the bigger rush and pull of construction and mining now that training had been canceled.
“New orders,” he said, and the boys in front of him jerked to attention, drawn by the gravity in his voice or the brightness in his eyes or the way he smiled,reallysmiled. “We’re not listening to the other orders. We’re making our own.”
UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
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Meira
FROM JANNUARI, IT’Stwo days of sailing down the Feni River to Juli, the capital of Summer.
The Feni stretches wide enough to provide an easy mode of transportation between the western Langstone River and the eastern Destas Sea. And Cordell, as the only Rhythm Kingdom bordering the Destas, has quite the navy—Noam travels to and from Winter on his own well-equipped frigate. But growing up on the run from Angra didn’t provide many opportunities for me to experience sailing—the closest I’ve come to a boat was standing on a dock in Ventralli a few years back while Finn haggled over a barrel of salted fish.
The ship Noam arranged for us is a small schooner with only eight crew members, and adding our numbers makes the ship cramped. But the lack of space allows for an easier patrol of our crates of Klaryn stones, stores every Cordellansoldier eyes with amusement. They know exactly why the crates are here, that they’re my feeble attempt at unseating Noam while we search for the keys, and every time I see the soldiers’ snide expressions, my stomach knots.
